The SEC issued new rules in a release captioned “Solicitations of Interest Prior to a Registered Public Offering.” New Rule 163B enables all issuers to engage in test-the-waters communications with qualified institutional buyers, referred to as QIBs, and institutional accredited investors, referred to as IAIs, regarding a contemplated registered securities... Read More
Our preliminary list of important planning considerations for the 2020 proxy season is set forth below. Directors’ and Officers’ Questionnaires; Committee Charters We have identified only a few possible changes to date for D&O questionnaires and committee charters for the 2020 proxy season. New rules adopted to implement the FAST... Read More
We have identified only a few possible changes to date for D&O questionnaires for the 2020 proxy season. New rules adopted to implement the FAST Act clarify that registrants may, but are not required to, rely only on Section 16 reports that have been filed on EDGAR (as well as... Read More
FASB has issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, intended to improve guidance used to determine whether debt should be classified as a current or noncurrent liability in a classified balance sheet. The amendments in this proposed ASU would introduce a principle for determining whether debt or other instruments... Read More
The SEC published this statement announcing a new position on requests for no action letters to exclude shareholder proposals: After the recent proxy and shareholder proposal season, the Division considered whether additional guidance or changes to its process of administering Exchange Act Rule 14a-8 were warranted. As a result of... Read More
FASB has issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, to provide temporary optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial reporting. In particular the proposed ASU is meant to address the expected discontinuance of LIBOR. Without any... Read More
Omega Protein Corporation manufactured and distributed omega-3 fish oils and fish meal products. Omega financed its operations through federal government programs under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The Title XI loans were administered by the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS. NMFS regularly required that Omega’s... Read More
Activist investor Third Point LLC and three funds that it controls have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the funds violated the premerger notification and waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, or HSR Act, after they acquired the voting securities of Dow DuPont Inc. (“Dow DuPont”). Dow... Read More
The SEC provided guidance to assist investment advisers in fulfilling their proxy voting responsibilities. The guidance discusses, among other matters, the ability of investment advisers to establish a variety of different voting arrangements with their clients and matters they should consider when they use the services of a proxy advisory... Read More
The SEC charged TherapeuticsMD Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with violations of Regulation FD based on its sharing of material, nonpublic information with sell-side research analysts without also disclosing the same information to the public. No individuals were charged. The company did not admit or deny... Read More